The Department of Medical Surgical Nursing, Vinayaka Mission’s College of Nursing (VMCON) organised a national conference on ‘Sustainability in Excellence - Maximizing Skills in Critical Care’ on 24^th January 2019 at the Annapoorani Auditorium, VMCON, Puducherry. The conference was aimed at critical care nurses to help them keep pace with the latest information and develop skills to manage new treatment and technologies. Patient care is becoming increasingly complex in Critical Care Units (CCU) and this conference focused on ensuring quality of nursing care in this environment. There were 178 delegates and 250 students at the conference that was inaugurated by Dr. Muralidharan.

Dr. Sumana Navin, Course Director, MOHAN Foundation was invited as resource person to speak on ‘Legal and ethical issues in brain death, organ donation and transplantation.’ She spoke about the key role that critical care nurses play in deceased organ donation since they are the ones who are in direct contact with the family. She emphasised that it was only after every effort was made to save the life of the patient, and brainstem death was diagnosed that the option of organ donation was even broached. The trust and rapport that they built with the family was invaluable in this process. She also briefed them on the opportunity to become transplant coordinators.

The conference had vital sessions on haemodynamic monitoring by Dr. Renuka, Principal, Kasturba Gandhi Nursing College, MGMC&RI, Puducherry, mechanical ventilation by Dr.Navin Puttum, Asst. Prof., Dept. of Accident & Emergency Medicine, AVMC&H, Puducherry, Extra Corporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) by Dr.Umadevi A.K, Associate Prof., Kempegowda College of Nursing, KIMS, Bengaluru, and Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) by Dr. G. Raja, Asst. Prof., Dept. of Accident & Emergency Medicine, AVMC&H, Puducherry. His practical demonstration enabled the participants in turn to demonstrate their ability in performing ACLS.

Dr. R. Jeyadeepa, Vice Principal, Karuna College of Nursing, Palakkad, Kerala elaborated on the necessity to bridge the gap between theory and practice in infection control in the CCU. The conference laid equal emphasis on the psychosocial wellbeing of patients in the CCU and the need for nurses to focus on this aspect as well. Dr. Lalitha, Director, Nursing Services, MGMC&RI, Puducherry spoke extensively about the psychosocial perspectives of critically ill patients and listed the A to Z indicators of their psychosocial needs. She emphasised that nursing interventions should address dehumanisation of the patient. Dr. Indira Arumugam, Dean, Narayana College of Nursing, Nellore, Andhra Pradesh explained the role of advocacy in critical care nursing and how the critical care nurse becomes the ‘voice’ of the patient.

The conference was well organised by Prof. G. Muthamilselvi, Principal, Vinayaka Mission’s College of Nursing and her team, and offered immense learning opportunities for nurses in the challenging environment of the CCU.